Trader Tom got the 1963 Duncan Mold that makes these Moais off of ebay.

Quote:

On 2006-04-30 22:23, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:

Here is the first pour that GROG did at Tiki G's chop.

Unfortunately the greenware was a bit too wet to transport back after the chop, and collapsed in on itself, so GROG have to squish it back into shape and did a rock texture on the outside to cover up the blemishes.

GROG have 10 greenware GROG has poured so far, and the mold is in great shape. Now Trader Tom just need to get over here and pick a glaze color and start glazing.

Here's the first of my self-glazed Duncan Mold Moai mugs that came out of the kiln this last weekend. I have several more over at Ernie's in various stages of being finished, but I'll have to wait till after Oasis to finish them up.

I have a 10th one that needs to go in the kiln once again to repair a glaze blemish. It's just plain red but I hand-painted some tropical leaves on the back. Here's a shot of it after a first firing:

#10, Leafy Red Moai

I've put some of these up for sale/trade on my Ooga-Mooga page and have held some back for myself. I plan on making more both for myself and for sale/trade. No big batches, I'm afraid, but as I do a few at a time I'll post new color combinations for you to check out.

Hope you enjoyed my glaze experiments! This really is a lot of fun. Hurrah for Savage Renewal !!!

That looks like so much fun! I dig the Magma Moai! And the Lava Flow's cool too.

I was inspired to dig up my professional restaurant ware Moai mugs that, having never worked with the mold, I always had THOUGHT were also Duncans --until I realized the subtle differences, especially in the nostrils and lips! I am aware this thread is about home-made ceramics, so forgive me if I veer off a little into these Otagiri-made Moai mugs, but the similarities are so uncanny:

We all know these and many other "modernist" BLACK versions:

Then there was the wood-glaze Trader Dick's mug, and the wood-carved Oceanic Arts lighter:

...and then there were the ORIGINAL party god lights made by TIKI/tm Inc:

The main difference to the Duncan mold seems to be the nose is more rounded off and has rounder nostrils, and while the Otagiris frown a tad, the Duncans ALMOST crack a smile.

Looking at the comparison between the Duncan Moi and the OMC version I'm reminded of something I've always wondered . . How/why cast them with a concave base? Sure, they fire and glaze easier, and they hold less than they look like they should, but the process seems far more complex. Don't you need at least a three-part mold to do a concave base?

Silverline, that's a good point about the concave base. You could press up on a freshly poured molded mug and make a little bit of a concave impression but to get that really nice domed bottom I think that you would need a more complex mold, maybe a three parter, like you were speculating about.